


Shattered in an Instant

by Bubbles759



Series: Fire Alarms and Cooking Lessons [8]
Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Hospitals, Minor Character Death, Poor Fíli, Serious Injuries, Tissue Warning!, and everyone really, and thorin, this is not a happy fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-26
Updated: 2016-10-26
Packaged: 2018-08-27 04:07:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8386600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bubbles759/pseuds/Bubbles759
Summary: Sometimes your life changes slowly; over months and years, and decades. Sometimes it changes quickly; over hours, and days, and weeks. Sometimes it changes in an instant.





	

**Author's Note:**

> TISSUE WARNING!!!
> 
> I have had this on my laptop for a while now, and I feel it's a good time to get it out. This is not a happy fic. I recommend not reading this in public, with make up on, or without a large supply of chocolate.

Thorin would never forget the night his life changed, the day he stopped being a brother and uncle, and became a parent.

When his phone rang at 9.47pm on the 21st July 1992, Thorin knew his world was about to change. **_Had_** changed. The caller hung up before he had gathered his wits enough to pick it up, but it didn’t matter when they called again immediately. This time Thorin answered.

He wished he hadn’t.

Not that it would have made any difference in the end, the outcome wouldn’t have changed. But he could have stayed in denial a little longer. Just a few more minutes.

He didn’t.

“Thorin Oakenshield,” he almost choked. He turned his head and cleared his throat.

“Thorin, its Oin. You need to come to the hospital. There’s ah... there’s been an accident.”

Thorin didn’t need to hear anymore. He hung up the phone.

********

As he ran through the doors of A&E, his heart was firmly lodged in his throat. He didn’t know what to expect, just that it would be bad. When he saw police and ambulance personnel waiting around, he knew it was worse.

“Thorin?” He didn’t realise he had stopped in the middle of the hallway until Oin’s voice bought him back to the world. He looked at his cousin blankly. He looked pale under his greying hair and beard. “Come with me.”

Thorin followed him blindly down the hallway and into an empty room.

“I’m sorry Thorin. I don’t know how to tell you this, but...” Oin took a deep, shaking breath. “God, I’m so so sorry.”

Thorin’s mind was blank. Oin didn’t cry. Ever. It just didn’t happen. He was strong, and stoic and nothing ever shook him.

“What’s... what’s going on?”

“There was an accident. Kara and Fili were driving into town. I’m not sure exactly what happened, you’d have to talk to the police, but a truck... the roads are wet and slippery after the rain this past week and... the driver appears to have lost control. The truck hit the car on the driver’s side. ‘T-boned’ the police are calling it.”

Thorin’s world tilted on its axis. “Frerin? He... he was supposed to be working tonight?”

“Frerin was on the crew that got the call.”

Thorin’s heart stopped, he was sure of it. How did his brother feel coming on the scene of the accident that claimed the lives of his family?

“According to the other paramedics, he just lost it when he saw the car. He didn’t think. He ran to the car, managed to get Fili out, but... when he crossed back to the bus... A drunk driver didn’t stop, he flew through the scene. He hit them.”

“NO!” Thorin’s world stopped. He couldn’t... not his whole family.

“They’re both in surgery. But Thorin, it doesn’t look good. For either of them.”

His eyes lifted from the floor at the news. “They’re both alive?” Hope fluttered in his chest but he quickly stomped down on it. Oin nodded. “And Kara?”

“She was pronounced dead at the scene. We hope she died on impact. Anything else is too horrible to contemplate.”

“Can I... Can I see..?”

“They’re both still in surgery Thorin. It’ll be hours before either of them are out. I’m sorry. But I’ll get you the paperwork we need, and you can head to the surgical waiting room if you’d like.”

He nodded, on autopilot. He let Oin steer him into the elevator, then into the waiting room. There was a young couple there but he took no notice. He took the paperwork Oin handed him automatically but he didn’t look at it. His eyes were firmly fixed on the door marked **_Medical Personnel Only_**. He never felt the comforting hand Oin placed on his shoulder, didn’t hear his parting words, and didn’t notice him leave. His attention was solely focused on the door. His life lay behind it.

********

He wasn’t sure how long he sat there before Dwalin came barrelling down the hall, practically skidding to a stop in front of him. It can’t have been too long though, the couple were still there, no one else had come up and no doctors or nurses had come out through the door.

“Thorin how... what’s..?”

“I don’t know.” His voice was hollow, eyes still trained on the door. “Frerin and Fili are in surgery.”

“And Kara?”

“Dead.”

Dwalin ran a hand over his bald head, releasing a breath in a rush. He sat heavily in the chair next to Thorin. “Shit.” It was then he noticed the forgotten papers in Thorin’s hand. He took them from unresisting fingers and looked them over before pulling a pen from his shirt pocket and starting to fill in what information he could for both Frerin and Fili. Things like date of birth, height, address, next of kin... the simple things. But there were questions even he couldn’t answer.

“Thorin?” He received a noise that could almost be considered a hum in answer. “What’s Fili’s blood type?”

“O negative.” It was answered with no hesitation.

“Fuck.” That could cause complications. Along with being a rare blood type to start with, it was the universal blood type, meaning anyone that needed a blood transfusion got a bag of O- while their blood type was determined. It put stress on already limited stores. And it meant that Fili could only receive O-.

“Any allergies?”

“No.” Well, that was a positive at least.

“And Frerin?”

“O negative and allergic to penicillin.” The news just kept getting better and better.

Dwalin looked over the rest of the forms. The only questions not answered could be found on medical records, and they were things that Thorin probably didn’t know on a good day, let alone one where his brain wasn’t really functioning. With another sigh he stood, laid a reassuring hand on Thorin’s shoulder, and went looking for someone to give the forms to. No one would give him any information other than they were both in serious condition in surgery and that the doctors were doing all they could to save them. Even when he played the uncle card he was told no more and it was with a heavy heart that he stepped outside the hospital doors and called his brother. After a short conversations filled with Balin’s reassurances and a promise to be there as soon as possible, Dwalin went back to Thorin’s side, a cup of coffee in each hand. He handed one to Thorin and settled back into the seat, prepared to sit there until _someone_ had some information to tell them.

********

Thorin looked at his watch and sighed, running a hand through his hair. He’d been sitting in the same spot, eyes fixed on the door, for almost 6 hours, and still no one could tell him anything. The couple had left, relief on their faces at the news they were given and Thorin only felt jealousy. There was a young man come and sit down on the other side of the room, but he was gone within 2 hours, devastation clearly written across dark features. Thorin felt his heart stop at the thought that he might leave with the same expression. Dwalin had left a few times, coming back with coffee and vending machine food. Thorin had barely noticed. Balin appeared just over an hour before, notepad and a briefcase full of notes keeping him busy while he surreptitiously watched Thorin out of the corner of his eye.

Finally, 7.5 hours after Thorin had received the dreaded phone call, a tall, tired looking blond doctor walked through the door and over to Thorin, pulling up a seat across from him. He sat heavily, and Thorin noted the blood spatters that he hadn’t been able to wipe away in the quick clean up.

“Mr Oakenshield?” Thorin nodded. “And these gentlemen-”

“Are family.” He sounded like he’d been a pack a day smoker for 30 years, but the doctor just nodded and continued.

“I’m Dr Lorien, and I worked on Frerin.”

“How is he?” The doctor shot Dwalin an irritated look at the interruption but Dwalin ignored it.

“At the moment he’s still in serious condition. I’d list his injuries, and explain how we patched him up, but honestly, I don’t really think any of you care about that. He took most of the damage on his right side, that’s the side the car hit, but his left side is not unscathed. It appears he tried to protect the boy with his own body.”

“He would have. That boy is his son.” Dwalin’s voice was almost a growl but the doctor didn’t appear fazed.

“I didn’t know that.” He took a deep breath before continuing. “The most important things to note are the broken femur in his right leg and the array of broken ribs. His left shoulder is a mess. He broke his collar bone, his humerus, his scapula, and tore muscles due to the impact with the road. He suffered head trauma from both the car and the road, and we have him under constant surveillance to keep an eye on his brain function and make sure the swelling he has around his brain doesn’t get worse. He’s being moved to ICU once he’s out of recovery. We have set all the bones and repaired all the muscles we could. He’s in a neck brace for now, with the swelling along his spine we didn’t want to take any chances that there is an injury we can’t see. We decided against putting him in an induced coma due to the head injury so, all things going well, he should wake within the next few hours.”

Thorin paled further and further as the list of injuries were listed, and he was glad they were getting the cliff notes version. He’d hate to hear the details. He swallowed hard. “Will he be ok?”

“Honestly? I don’t know for certain. Brain injuries are a difficult thing to give a clear outcome on. But he is definitely getting the best care he can.”

Thorin swallowed heavily. “What about my nephew?” Fili had been in there just as long as Frerin, and he was so small. If that much damage had been done to an adult that was only hit by a car, what had happened to a 4 year old boy that had been hit by the same car after being in a car accident?

“I don’t know. I didn’t work on him. All I know is that they were both critical when they arrived. I’m sure he won’t be in surgery much longer.” With that the doctor rose, and left the waiting room. Thorin wiped a hand over his eyes, trying to remove the wetness there. Frerin was out of surgery, and hopefully would be awake soon. But he couldn’t feel too relieved; Fili was still in there, behind those doors he had grown to hate. Balin and Dwalin came to sit either side of him, silently lending moral support. 

********

Almost 2 hours after the doctor had left, an exhausted looking woman stepped out of the doors, her scrubs even more blood splattered than Dr Lorien. She practically fell into the chair across from Thorin. “Mr Oakenshield?”

Thorin nodded. “How’s my nephew?”

She took a deep breath and leaned her elbows on her legs. “I’m Dr Evenstar, a paediatric surgeon. I have to say that your nephew took a lot of damage. The injuries caused by the initial accident were compounded by the impact from the car that hit him and your brother. We lost him once on the table, but we managed to get him back.” Thorin’s world rocked again, and he was getting really sick of the feeling.

“Would you like me to list the injuries and what happened, or would you just like to know the outcomes? I know you’ve had a really rough night, so I’m happy to leave it up to you in terms of how much information you want.”

Thorin ran a hand through his hair again. He didn’t really know if he was prepared to hear all the intimate details, just as he wasn’t prepared for the details about Frerin. “Just... is he going to be ok?”

“He should be. Like in everything, we can’t guarantee anything at such an early stage, but the surgery was a success in the end and, barring any major complications, he should recover well. He will need some physical therapy as he heals, but he is young and healthy. I have every confidence he will be as good as new in time.”

“What are the main things we need to be aware of?” Balin asked when it was clear the relief coursing through Thorin had rendered him speechless.

“He does have swelling on the brain, as is usual after high impact accidents. He has a number of broken bones, and he tore a few muscles in his right hip. We think that was a combination of the initial car accident, and then it was exacerbated by the car that hit them. He has a broken right femur-”

“Same as Frerin,” Dwalin mumbled.

“And that was our highest concern after the swelling around the brain. He had a large amount of bleeding around the bone and at first we were worried about him bleeding out from a cut femoral artery, but the artery was intact. His right arm is broken in 3 places and he will need rehabilitation on his right shoulder. Due to his age, he should regain full movement in the shoulder and I foresee no real problems arising from this. His spleen was removed as it had been irreparably damaged and his right lung has been reinflated. One of his broken ribs had punctured it quite badly, but it has been repaired.”

Thorin felt like he was going to be sick. He dropped his head between his knees and he felt Balin run a soothing hand up and down his spine. His mind was spinning at the large amount of injuries his young nephew had sustained.

“They’re alive, Thorin. Anything else we can deal with, but they are both alive. It’s definitely better than what we thought at first.” Balin’s voice was calm and soothing.

Dr Evenstar nodded. “Exactly. I don’t know anything about your brother’s surgery, but as I said before, your nephew should make a full recovery barring any complications.” Thorin nodded and raised his head. “Fili should be in recovery for about 2 hours or so, and then he’ll be moved to the paediatric ward. He could be put in the ICU, but we feel it’s better for him to be in paediatrics. He’ll still be monitored regularly, so don’t worry about that. We just don’t like to put children in ICU wards unless we have to.”

“How do I tell a 4 year old he’ll never see his mother again?”

“I wish I knew.” Dr Evenstar stood, laying a hand on Thorin’s shoulder. “You can head to the paediatric ward if you’d like, but it will be a couple of hours before he’s moved up there. Or you can head to where you’re brother will be settled.” She crouched down in front of him. “Try and think positive. They’re both alive, and after everything they’ve both been through, that’s a miraculous thing. Try and get some food, or a coffee. And don’t make yourself sick looking after them.” With that she turned and left the 3 men in the waiting room.

“Come on Thorin. Let’s head down to the cafeteria, get something to eat. I could do with a coffee, and I’m sure you need something as well.” Balin stood, cracking his back as he stretched. “I’m getting too old to sit in one position for hours.”

Reluctantly Thorin stood, working kinks out of his body as it protested moving after being basically locked in a cramped position for almost 11 hours.

“Would the cafeteria be open yet?”

“It’s after 7, Thorin. You’ve been here all night.” Dwalin let out a jaw cracking yawn.

“Jesus, go home Dwalin. You worked all day yesterday, you’ve been here all night. Go home, get some sleep.” Thorin followed the brothers down the hall and into the elevator.

“No. I’m not leaving until I know how they’re doing. I told my boss what had happened, he gave me a few days leave.”

********

Dwalin was reading a newspaper, and making quick work of his second bacon and egg roll. Balin was scribbling away in a notebook, papers spread out in front of him, his empty plate away to the side.

And Thorin?

Thorin had his hand wrapped around a truly disgusting cup of sludge the hospital passed off as coffee, the heat in the ceramic mug not even penetrating through the fog in his mind. He had a ham and cheese toasted sandwich, long gone cold, in front of him, and he hadn’t noticed that the steam had stopped rising from his coffee. The only thoughts going around his head were for Frerin and Fili. The hope that they would wake up. He didn’t entertain the thoughts about what would happen if one, or both, slipped away from him.

He started when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up with trepidation to see Oin beside him, his face worn with exhaustion.

“Frerin’s awake.”

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think. Next part should be up soon. XO


End file.
